When the ancient Polynesians invented surfing, they often used a paddle to help them navigate. Fast-forward a few millennia, and Stand-Up Paddleboarding, or SUP, finds itself trendy again. Part of its increasing popularity is that standing upright allows surfers to spot waves more easily and thus catch more of them, multiplying the fun factor. Paddling back to the wave becomes less of a strain as well. The ability to cruise along on flat inland water, surveying the sights, is another advantage. Finally, its a good core workout. If youre sold on the idea, schedule an intro SUP lesson, free with board and paddle rental, and you may find yourself riding the waves like a Polynesian king.More

In the past 30 years, light artists have reimagined an art form that has always had the ability to turn the night sky, or a simple window, into luminescence. Last fall, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts turned its southern glass wall into a parade of sound-sensing lights, Lightswarm, that changes with the movements of nearby people and things. Future Cities Lab, the San Francisco design company behind Lightswarm, has originated another notable light sculpture. Located by the YBCA's steps at 701 Mission, Murmur Wall will light up in arresting ways as it incorporates local trending search engine results and social media postings. Onlookers can offer their own contributions, which will feed into the Murmur Wall's data stream and light up the sculpture. What's trending in San Francisco? If you're walking by the YBCA, you can see firsthand — at least through light patterns that reflect the city's volatile internet habits.
Murmur Wall debuts Thursday at 6 p.m. and continues through May 31, 2017, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St., S.F. Free; 415-978-2700 or ybca.org. More

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The island trend of Hawaiian-style poke, or raw fish/seafood dressed with a variety of sauces and fresh toppings, has been kicking around the West Coast mainland for a while, particularly in Los Angeles, where its lean protein-rich nature is a big hit with the diet and camera conscious.

S.F. pays lobbyist to advocate for government secrecy, critics say

As the Examiner reported last week, lobbyists paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by the city in recent years haven't bothered to file required reports with the Ethics Commission showing what they did to earn that money since 2005. The commission's executive director, John St. Croix, acknowledged that he "dropped the ball," while reps from the city's lobbying firm insisted no one told them about the local reporting requirements — and that it wasn't even in their contract.

Granted, the screw-up is more of a misdemeanor than a felony; during the same period, the lobbyists did file reports of their activities (albeit less detailed ones than the city requires) with the secretary of state. But one open-government advocate has since come across something more alarming: Two years ago, the city paid its lobbying firm to push passage of a law restricting public access to government data in violation of San Francisco's Sunshine Ordinance.

"I think this is a very big deal," said Terry Francke, the general counsel for the open-government group CalAware and drafter of the city's Sunshine Ordinance. "The people who established the Sunshine Ordinance wanted to make sure their efforts were not undercut by the city's lobbyists going to Sacramento and trying to get more secrecy in state law."

But it appears that's just what happened. In 2007, city-funded lobbyists successfully pushed for AB 101, sponsored by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma and the City of San Francisco. You may remember the hullabaloo around this quirky law, which authorized the City of San Francisco — and no other city — to install forward-facing cameras on Muni vehicles to potentially bust ingrates who park in bus zones and the like.

And yet within the law AB 101 became is the explicit statement that, California Public Records Act be damned, the images captured by those cameras will remain confidential. Francke and other concerned open-government activists are quick to point out, however, that the Sunshine Ordinance clearly states: "Funds of the City and County of San Francisco ... shall not be used to support any lobbying efforts to restrict public access to records, information, or meetings."

Steven Wallauch, a lobbyist who worked on behalf of the city on this issue, says legislators and even the ACLU mandated that the video records be made confidential. Francke isn't swayed. He doesn't see how one's privacy is violated by videos being taken in a public place. And he's worried about what would happen if a media or advocacy group demanded to see the videos to determine whether the law is being applied even-handedly. Government employees double-park or block bus stops all the time — but if outside parties can't see the footage, who's to know?

About The Author

Bio:
Joe Eskenazi was born in San Francisco, raised in the Bay Area, and attended U.C. Berkeley. He never left.
"Your humble narrator" was a staff writer and columnist for SF Weekly from 2007 to 2015.
He resides in the Excelsior with his wife, 4.3 miles from his birthplace and 5,474 from hers.

Slideshows

Sub Pop recording artists 'clipping.' brought their brand of noise-driven experimental hip hop to the closing night of 2016's San Francisco Electronic Music Fest this past Sunday. The packed Brava Theater hosted an initially seated crowd that ended the night jumping and dancing against the front of the stage. The trio performed a set focused on their recently released Sci-Fi Horror concept album, 'Splendor & Misery', then delved into their dancier and more aggressive back catalogue, and recent single 'Wriggle'.
Opening performances included local experimental electronic duo 'Tujurikkuja' and computer music artist 'Madalyn Merkey.'"